Biogas Production Potential of Solid Wastes: A Research Experience

Abstract

Energy demands are increasing with ever-increasing world population. Such increasing demands resulted in a rapid increase in number of renewable energy facilities. Current energy requirements are mostly met with fossil fuels all over the world. However, fossil fuels have significant hazardous impacts on environment and make several countries dependent to foreign countries. Thus, renewable energy sources are quite significant for environment and country economies. Biogas is one of the most popular renewable energy resources. In this study, performance of an electricity generation facility from solid wastes in Tokat province was assessed. Experiments were performed under controlled conditions between July and December. The daily amount of incoming solid waste to the biogas production facility (kg), electricity generation (MW) and methane gas production were determined. In addition, temperature and relative humidity were also examined. The daily solid waste entered to the process was between 4494 - 7239 kg. With this solid waste, minimum methane production was 43,33 m3 and the maximum methane production was 54,91 m3 corresponding to minimum 1,58 MW and maximum 5,85 MW electricity production in one day.